Go wide, go deep

What's the most frequently asked question we've had this month from prospects and clients?

"Are you strong in global marketing?"

How has our client mix changed in the last five years?

vSA has more of its clients in several key areas of concentration than ever before: industrial, commercial/residential building systems and products, green products, aerospace, financial services, non-profit... and they are geographically more disparate than they were five years ago.

What common threads are there between the two insights above?

1-In an admittedly fragile economic recovery, we find renewed opportunity, but it is often farther away, geographically, than in years past. Remember Billy Joel's Downeaster Alexa: "Tell my wife I am trawling Atlantis and I still have my hands on the wheel."

2-More important, our clients' prospects (and vSA's prospects) demand deeper-than-ever expertise in their partners. They care much less than they once did about having immediate physical access. (See The new face of face time.) Therefore, the company that wants to market a new, green building system wants a marketing firm that knows new, green building systems and knows how to launch a new product successfully.

Our take-away:

van Schouwen Associates will continue to hone and enhance its strengths not only in the types of clients and verticals we know best, but also in global marketing. We've successfully managed both "incoming" marketing by European companies to the U.S. and "outgoing" by U.S. companies to Europe, South/Latin America, BRIC and lately, to the Middle East.

We'll anticipate working with a more and more geographically diverse client base, and always having good reading ready for those plane trips that will happen when real face time is timely.

It is, all in all, a great adventure. Business can continually broaden the mind, can it not?

 

Photo with thanks to NOAA Photo Library.

Entrepreneur article about van Schouwen Associates

It hasn't been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon (or at van Schouwen Associates) and so I nearly forgot that our marketing firm was to be featured in an Entrepreneur article discussing how our company (and I) got through some of our darkest days.

Six Tips To Keep Your Business Going After Losing Your Partner takes us back to the days and months in 2006 following the unexpected and heartbreaking cardiac arrest death of my then-husband and business partner Steve van Schouwen. The author, Gwen Moran, told me she focuses on topics relating to business and personal crisis because so many of the business owners to whom Entrepreneur is directed are currently tired, discouraged or feeling beaten down after years of economic instability and business bumps. Her running theme is that entrepreneurs can and do survive more than we expect.

As the "survivor" subject of this latest article, I should know this. However, it never hurts to be reminded that all things change and continue changing. Often, the people who do best in life also cope best with change.

Reading the article, funnily enough, also reminds me of my own strengths, including a propensity to prepare for the unexpected, being more or less willing to "keep on going" and knowing – except when I forget! –  that it's often little things that allow us to exist a state of reasonable stability or contentment. I'll never minimize the sorrow of losing a loved one, nor the long road to feeling good again. I will not minimize the commitment it took, from the staff and me, to assure that van Schouwen Associates continued to provide great value to its clients no matter what.

It certainly makes me appreciate the smallness of everyday travails by comparison.

I hope you enjoy the article. Thanks again, Gwen Moran. I imagine your work helps a lot of readers.

If this works, I am beyond disappointed.

I can't help it, I have to add my voice to the chorus of dismay responding to the NRA's utterly cynical new TV ad condemning President Obama as a hypocrite because his children get Secret Service protection.

As a citizen: While I have my opinions, I understand that the gun control debate has some good arguments on both sides, and I know that as a country we take both the safety of our children (and adults) and our Second Amendment rights seriously. I sincerely believe we can find middle ground that works. One article I thought expressed this well came from a small newspaper in Vermont, where hunting and thus guns are a way of life.

The NRA has a voice in this debate, like 'em or not. Which they have misused and - I hope - squandered.

As a marketing business owner: I want our profession to have some honor. Don't laugh. Many of us bring our ethics to work, and care about the messages we send out into the airwaves, cyberspace and print.

With this ad, the NRA has:

• Broken the unspoken rule that the President's children should be pretty much off-limits for this sort of publicity - and especially for such a smear.

• Feigned ignorance in an ugly way. Anyone with half a brain knows that the President's children are in a much different position than Joey and Janie Average. (Our children, by and large, are not specific targets for terrorists and anti-government activists. Nor are we. Threats are a terrible downside of being president, so it is not elitist to benefit from the Secret Service protection every President and his family get.)

• Made some nasty insinuations that the President is thus misusing his power.

• Exposed the Obama girls to dangers in addition to the ones they already face, by spotlighting them in this way for every deranged person in the country.

I would much rather that the NRA simply make its arguments for Second Amendment rights using the platform on which they stand. I hope that, by and large, Americans are repulsed by this ad. No matter where they stand on gun control.

I fear that I will be disappointed.

Reality 2013: Face up to fast change

This morning I heard a news clip about politicians in Vermont seeking a moratorium on the building of new larger scale wind turbines.

I am still shaking my head. All the talk we hear about renewable energy and... we don't want to look at it? Have it near us? I found that story (from a purportedly environmentally progressive state, no less) disappointing and another example of politicians more concerned about re-election than making positive change.

Later in the morning clients were talking with us about their business prospects for 2013, which we realize are positively influenced by the bad news that severe weather trends and increasingly powerful storms are probably going to continue. The clients were not gloating in the least, just looking at reality and incorporating it into their planning.

My takeaway? This world is changing faster and faster and those who face reality, and then make positive change or provide value, are the people I admire most.

A firm grip on reality is one of the most important tools one can have in dealing effectively with life and work challenges.

You and I certainly may not like some of the changes taking place - or the ones the world needs to make - whether change involves building big wind turbines that we (or our constituents) can see from home or highway, or facing the likelihood that rising temperatures and seas and high-impact storms are becoming more common - but we need to deal with these situations.

There is a lot to think about in 2013. Are American students still the best educated and hardest working in the world? Have we waited too long to effectively stem the climate change that even the conservative World Bank predicts? Will our political leaders have the courage to reduce the U.S. deficit? And/or provide social programs that will help build a stronger country? Can we regulate Wall Street before the next big implosion? Do we know how to cope with the technologies and processes we are developing, from drones to clones, artificial intelligence to factory farms? What should we do about guns and the public?

In 2013, external change comes faster than ever before, and that change is more global.

For businesses, government and non-profit organizations, new problems of course provide ample opportunity to provide better solutions. For businesses, there is opportunity to make money as well. Let's be decent and optimistic and look at ways to have a positive impact. From roofing products that stand up to hurricane winds and water to less violent video games that worried parents can give their children, from technologies to support roads with self-driving cars to flexible careers for seniors who still have energy and need income, and to a myriad of other ideas, our changing world offers ripe opportunity for good, useful and even revolutionary innovation.

A resolution worth making... eyes open, avoidance reflex turned off. Imagination and resolve in gear. Happy new year.

Native advertising: What you need to know for 2013

What is it?

Native advertising is basically advertising that follows the format, style, and voice of the venue in which it appears. On Facebook, perhaps it is a sponsored story rather than a display ad. In a print publication, it is an ad in article format. On Twitter, native advertising could be a promoted tweet.

What are the benefits?

People are sick of intrusive advertising. They get tired of being interrupted, disrupted, delayed, and sold. But businesses still need to reach these people. Advertising that looks and feels less like advertising in many cases does the trick.

What are the downsides?

At the risk of repeating ourselves: People are sick of intrusive advertising. When native advertising isn’t done well, it’s just one more intrusion.

Any words of advice?

Native advertising needs to be good… really good. Think “Super Bowl ad quality” brand videos, articles that answer burning questions, sponsored posts that genuinely interest the viewer. Otherwise, native advertising can be a fly in the soup of non-sponsored content.

Where can I read more about native advertising?

Start here:

Inc’s summary

Insiders' opinions on its value

Contact us for an initial exploration of how and whether native advertising can work for your firm.

 

This holiday, let's change our world.

There are few people in the United States whose past several days have been purely festive, contented or even merely productive. The tragedy of Sandy Hook Elementary School has shaken the nation, and in nearly every home, office, school, mall, and playground, this holiday season has been marked by a terrible sadness.

Perhaps the one thing we as a people can take from Newtown, Connecticut is that something needs to change. In fact, a number of things need to change. Because while this tragedy shook the nation, it is not the first of its kind, and it was the result of many cultural factors that we see all around us every day. American gun culture, violent and cruel video games, still-prevalent bullying in schools, mediocre access to mental health care and the tone and content of media coverage for events such as this are among the topics we need to study as we work to change - IF we work to change. The answers won't be easy, but surely we can do better than we are doing now.

This isn't just an issue for politicians. Business plays a part in deciding what products we develop and market to adults and kids. The public plays a part in not losing interest or focus on this issue two weeks or two months from now. Students play a part in not bullying and tormenting other kids, parents in reconsidering what kinds of video games their kids play - and what they learn about guns and violence. And, yes, our political leaders need to demonstrate sustained courage and wisdom.

May we all do our part. That would be the best way to make this marred 2012 holiday season worthwhile, and to honor all the people impacted by the tragedy at Newtown. Wishing you peace and love during the holidays and beyond.

Inspiration in the workplace

Inc. today featured an inspiring article, Why Everyone at My Company Has One Job Title, which included this email excerpt from a now-deceased co-founder of The Nerdery:

"Our job titles are designed to empower us, not to limit us!" Bucklin wrote. "Put your business card on the desk in front of you...This card does not define you. You are a Co-President. You are bigger than your defined role, and you are much more than your job title. Play your part—transcend your job title, be a hero."

Inspiring employees goes one big step beyond motivating them. And inspiration is of course hard to create, especially in an era when "jobs for a lifetime" seems to many people an antiquated prospect, and when even the assurance of job security is shaky at many firms.

Inspiring employees also demands a lot more than rudimentary job security and longevity. It demands some mix of the following:

-Feeling that the job matters

-Knowing that the company cares about you

-Having challenging, meaningful or exciting work to do

-Wanting to do great work

-Looking forward to what is ahead

-Enjoying the ride - not counting the hours until the next weekend or holiday

For some people, inspiration comes easily. For others, it may never come. From our own experience at vSA, a certain "pride of authorship" comes into play. We genuinely love doing things well. To each vSA associate who... created a great website, built a powerful marketing program for a client, got our internal tracking processes in line, wrote a highly original article, solved an onerous technical problem, brought in a good client, or helped a good client make the world a little better... you have inspired me. I hope in some measure you, too, have been inspired.